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  3. I need a good argument....

I need a good argument....

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businesshelp
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  • D dan sh

    Borrow JSOP's gun and use it on them.

    P Offline
    P Offline
    Pete OHanlon
    wrote on last edited by
    #17

    I'd be interested seeing the storyboard for that one.

    "WPF has many lovers. It's a veritable porn star!" - Josh Smith

    As Braveheart once said, "You can take our freedom but you'll never take our Hobnobs!" - Martin Hughes.

    My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Onyx

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    • S Shelby Robertson

      Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:

      As long as user stories are by users and not developer's imagination.

      No, No. He wants us developers writing the stories *AS* tech requirements...

      Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

      I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

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      Rob Graham
      wrote on last edited by
      #18

      If you're not going to actually solicit requirements from your users in some form or other, but instead are going to depend on developers to invent them in the form of "user stories" you might as well not waste time and effort on the user stories. Just tell the developers to "Do Whatever You Think Is Right". It will be just as (in)effective, the resulting product will have just as little to do with user expectations and you'll save all that time you would have wasted on "user stories". Tell your co-worker that they are called user stories for a reason. What he's proposing are not user stories, but more like developer imaginings, and are worse than a waste of time, because they'll actually give you false confidence that you are somehow satisfying something akin to requirements, a false confidence that will explode into despair when the first actual user contacts the product.

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      • S Shelby Robertson

        I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

        Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

        I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

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        c2423
        wrote on last edited by
        #19

        Personally, I find that they have got there place in the requirements definition from time to time. But agile seems to far too often be a thin excuse for no design so I tend to steer away from all of it's practices. I think Joel Spolsky had an article on how he writes specs (something like "painless functional specs") which used user stories - might be worth looking up and reading for working out some pros and cons. Chris

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        • S Shelby Robertson

          I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

          Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

          I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

          M Offline
          M Offline
          Mark_Wallace
          wrote on last edited by
          #20

          Why do you have a problem with writing down what you're going to do in plain language before you do it?

          I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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          • P Pete OHanlon

            I'd be interested seeing the storyboard for that one.

            "WPF has many lovers. It's a veritable porn star!" - Josh Smith

            As Braveheart once said, "You can take our freedom but you'll never take our Hobnobs!" - Martin Hughes.

            My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Onyx

            J Offline
            J Offline
            Jim Crafton
            wrote on last edited by
            #21

            There's an App for that too! I think it's sometimes referred to as GTA IV :)

            ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow

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            • M Mark_Wallace

              Why do you have a problem with writing down what you're going to do in plain language before you do it?

              I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

              S Offline
              S Offline
              Shelby Robertson
              wrote on last edited by
              #22

              Mark Wallace wrote:

              Why do you have a problem with writing down what you're going to do in plain language before you do it?

              What does that have to do with a user story? Wouldn't that be me writing down what a user would be doing? Assuming I'm not a user, what value is there in that?

              Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

              I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

              M 1 Reply Last reply
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              • S Shelby Robertson

                I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

                Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                C Offline
                C Offline
                Christopher Duncan
                wrote on last edited by
                #23

                Arguing with religion is both futile and dangerous.

                Christopher Duncan
                www.PracticalUSA.com
                Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
                Copywriting Services

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                • M Mark_Wallace

                  Why do you have a problem with writing down what you're going to do in plain language before you do it?

                  I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                  R Offline
                  R Offline
                  RugbyLeague
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #24

                  it just confuses the issue

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                  • S Shelby Robertson

                    I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

                    Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                    I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                    P Offline
                    P Offline
                    PIEBALDconsult
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #25

                    Tell him he can do whatever he wants, then get back to work.

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                    • R RugbyLeague

                      it just confuses the issue

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                      H Offline
                      Henry Minute
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #26

                      You're right. It does have that in it's favour.

                      Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”

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                      • S Shelby Robertson

                        I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

                        Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                        I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                        R Offline
                        R Offline
                        realJSOP
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #27

                        Work up the most intense wild-eyed gaze you can muster, and in a quiet, measured tone, tell him if he mentions it again, you'll be forced to punch him in the mouth. Whatever you do, don't smile. He'll take you seriously.

                        .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                        -----
                        "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                        -----
                        "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                        L 1 Reply Last reply
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                        • R realJSOP

                          Work up the most intense wild-eyed gaze you can muster, and in a quiet, measured tone, tell him if he mentions it again, you'll be forced to punch him in the mouth. Whatever you do, don't smile. He'll take you seriously.

                          .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                          -----
                          "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                          -----
                          "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                          L Offline
                          L Offline
                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #28

                          Grin with your mouth but your eyes and the rest of your face stay ice cold. Mixed up body language can really freak people out. [Evil grin]

                          Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]

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                          • S Shelby Robertson

                            I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

                            Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                            I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

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                            P Offline
                            peterchen
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #29

                            User stories are a good method of communication between potential users and techs. Agile has much worse things. They have a good chance to catch the classic "this is not what I wanted" problem before any code is written if you use them to discuss the project with users As tech-to-tech spec, they are stupid - I agree with that. Beat him at his own game. Show him how agile is done right :cool:

                            Agh! Reality! My Archnemesis![^]
                            | FoldWithUs! | sighist | µLaunch - program launcher for server core and hyper-v server.

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                            • S Shelby Robertson

                              I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

                              Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                              I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                              R Offline
                              R Offline
                              Ravi Bhavnani
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #30

                              Actually, it's not a complete waste of time if done correctly (i.e. as an organization, not in isolation).  The stakeholders (who typically aren't the developers) have to buy into, understand and follow the agile process, along with the devs, for it to be useful.  Otherwise, it can easily lead to pure chaos. /ravi

                              My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

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                              • S Shelby Robertson

                                I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

                                Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                                I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                Douglas Troy
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #31

                                If you're a software developer, which I assume you are ... then you're not supposed to write user stories, the Product Owner does that, so ... as soon as you have a Product Owner, and they work the back log and write the necessary user stories, then you can start working on it. In the meantime, might I suggest taking some time off, whilst that co-worker of yours figures this out.


                                :..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
                                Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

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                                • L Lost User

                                  Grin with your mouth but your eyes and the rest of your face stay ice cold. Mixed up body language can really freak people out. [Evil grin]

                                  Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^]

                                  R Offline
                                  R Offline
                                  realJSOP
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #32

                                  It's tough to get that patented "crazy" grin. I've mastered it, but I didn't want to give too much to do in one lesson.

                                  .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                                  -----
                                  "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                                  -----
                                  "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • S Shelby Robertson

                                    I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

                                    Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                                    I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                                    P Offline
                                    P Offline
                                    pelnor
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #33

                                    User stories can be great for testers but I've rarely seen them be much use for developers. I can use specs that tell me everything as form as to do. I don't have nearly as much use for a story telling me how Peggy in accounting will use the form.

                                    Latest toys built for fun: 3D gravity simulation using xbap
                                    full size Google image search.

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                                    • S Shelby Robertson

                                      I have a co-worker who is trying to push agile on everyone and it's getting to be a problem. I need a good argument to not have to write "user stories" other than "It's a complete waste of time and provides me nothing useful".

                                      Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                                      I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                                      N Offline
                                      N Offline
                                      NormDroid
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #34

                                      Beat him about the head until he begs for mercy.

                                      Two heads are better than one.

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                                      • S Shelby Robertson

                                        Mark Wallace wrote:

                                        Why do you have a problem with writing down what you're going to do in plain language before you do it?

                                        What does that have to do with a user story? Wouldn't that be me writing down what a user would be doing? Assuming I'm not a user, what value is there in that?

                                        Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                                        I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        Mark_Wallace
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #35

                                        Shelby Robertson wrote:

                                        Wouldn't that be me writing down what a user would be doing?

                                        No, it would be writing down the feature that you will be working on, and why you are working on it. If a user doesn't want what you're working on (which is so very often the case, with software), then don't do it. If you can't write, in plain language and from the user's perspective, what the item is wanted for and going to be used for, then you should have no say whatsoever in the features that are to be added to the product.

                                        I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                                        S 1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • M Mark_Wallace

                                          Shelby Robertson wrote:

                                          Wouldn't that be me writing down what a user would be doing?

                                          No, it would be writing down the feature that you will be working on, and why you are working on it. If a user doesn't want what you're working on (which is so very often the case, with software), then don't do it. If you can't write, in plain language and from the user's perspective, what the item is wanted for and going to be used for, then you should have no say whatsoever in the features that are to be added to the product.

                                          I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

                                          S Offline
                                          S Offline
                                          Shelby Robertson
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #36

                                          Mark Wallace wrote:

                                          No, it would be writing down the feature that you will be working on, and why you are working on it.

                                          The project manager tells me what projects to work on...so in this case that does not apply.

                                          Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

                                          I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.

                                          B 1 Reply Last reply
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